County to study response to new law

The Steuben County Legislature will meet on Monday, with the top item on the agenda being a consulting deal to help determine how the county will handle the state’s new Raise the Age law requirements.

Under the recent legislation, New York state will raise the age of criminal responsibility to 18, no longer automatically prosecuting 16- and 17-year-olds as adults.

That means 16- and 17-year-olds will have to be placed in dedicated detention facilities if they’re held long-term by law enforcement, and they’ll be entitled to the same services as younger children who get involved in the criminal justice system.

That creates a number of new challenges for counties, particularly in rural areas.

County officials think John Treahy, who formerly ran Glove House, can help with a plan to implement the requirements.

A partnership including Chemung, Cortland, Livingston, Ontario, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Tioga and Yates counties is planning to collaborate on the study.

“We’re doing a collaborative study with other counties in the region to collectively come up with a solution for the detention portion of what the law requires us to do,” said Deputy County Manager Mitch Alger.

Other counties may yet join in on the partnership, and the study, which is expected to cost about $100,000 in total.

That would spread out the costs even more, Alger said.

He said the expectation at this point is that Steuben’s share of the study costs will be approximately $10,000, but could be lower if more counties join. The resolution before the Legislature is for an expenditure of up to $15,000.

“The intention is to … find some economies of scale and find some facility that would work for all of us,” he said. “We don’t know at this point whether that will be just one site or multiple sites within the region.”

Also on the agenda for Monday is the receipt of $642,568.88 in “Extreme Winter Recovery” funding from the state to the county Department of Public Works.

Those funds will be used to rebuild 3.6 miles of road on County Route 10 in Cameron and

2.6 miles of road on County Route 25 in Cameron and Rathbone.

And the county 911 Department will accept $195,340 from the state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services toward the ongoing 911 dispatch upgrade capital project.

Also Monday, the county Legislature will recognize an individual, program or organization that has significantly contributed to the prevention of child abuse in the county.

Nominations for the recognition are received from schools, government agencies, community organizations, private practitioners, churches and other concerned individuals or groups.

December 17, 2018

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. (NEWS10) – Programs associated with “Raise the Age,” which was passed in last year’s state budget, are finally getting underway. The legislation changed the criminal justice system so non-violent offenders ages 16 and 17 would not be charged as adults. The first facility in the area with housing specifically for these minors opened […]

December 16, 2018

Date Published: December 16th 2018 By: Joe Mahoney ALBANY — Counties across New York are making plans to expand their probation departments as a result of the state’s Raise the Age initiative designed to keep youth out of adult prisons and jails. “Many counties are going to have to hire probation officers,” said Mark LaVigne, […]